Essay On Leadership And Leadership

THE EXECUTIVE’S TRINITY: MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP AND COMMAND by Lt Col Richard Muhirwa

Leadership, command, and management are three overlapping activities which are often difficult to differentiate and easy to confuse. An individual can be doing all the three at anyone point in time; all the three are always required in varying proportions for the successful accomplishment of a mission, duty or respnsibility. Understanding how the three competences relate or how they tend to be similar or different helps us to understand their relevance especially in as far as they contribute singularly or in concert to the prosperity of organisations both in the corporate and military world. Steven Bungay defines the difference between management and leadership, and borrowing from the military, proposes a third concept of command, which is essential for providing the direction of an organization’s activities .

Leadership and management are two systems of action that work together to get a mission accomplished. Leadership determines where to go and what to do both now and in the future, and charts the direction to get there. Then management determines how to get there, by setting the systems, processes and techniques needed to realize the goals and the executing. Although previously command has tended to be included as part of leadership, it is different in that, it is the rights of authority conferred upon an individual by an external party to exercise so as to achieve a mission and it carries responsibilities, duties and accountability. Although responsibilities can be delegated or shared, the commander remains accountable for the results of his command (General John A. Wickham).

For every organisation’s prosperity and survival each of the ele...

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...rises, since all are key qualities for success in organizations of every nature. It is the nature of the job and context that dictate which portion to be apply when, where and how for the successful accomplishment of a given mission or task. While management competences are important for military leaders, its techniques and application may prove disastrous if substituted for leadership on the battlefield. And conversely, leadership techniques that work well on the battlefield may end up being very futile when substituted for management. That for which soldiers are willing to face danger and death in battle, loyalty, team spirit, morale cannot be instilled by managing. Managers can put the most modern and well equipped force into the field but do not have the competence to inspire men to be able to fight and capture or seize an objective (General John A. Wickham).